The Trail Dawgs Holy Day of Obligation, The Run for St Roch, is coming up on Saturday July 13 at 8 am.
The Faithful will remember that Roch is the patron saint of dogs, knee injuries, and skin problems; there could not be a more appropriate patron for this trail run. We will be running around that 5600 acres of rolling awesomeness called Fair Hill State Natural Resource Management Area starting at the South Appleton Lot. The route will offer around 25K of winding, rolling fun in the woods and some kind of shortcut for those who might like something in the 15K or 7K range (same basic course design as Phat Phil's originals!). Feel free to take your pick on the day of the race. Full immersion baptism (creek crossing) is included. We will have two basic aid stations (miles 6 and 11, +/- 2 miles) with fluids, ice chests, and a perhaps few morsels to fend off starvation. But, it would be a challenge to make it between aid stations without your own fluids, so please bring a hydration system of some sore (water bottle, hydration pack, etc).
This race has no registration fee and is run in the spirit of a "fat-ass" event, so you are mostly getting an opportunity for a race on well-marked trails -- with water stops -- in this awesome park. Though most past TrailDawgs races have just been a "show up and run" format, we now are required to be a bit more business-like to use parklands. This means registration, a finishers list, and signed waivers. So, let's call it a semi-fat-ass run, or a fat-ass-wannabe.
A link to registration for our formally Sanctified Trail Run is now available at::
http://www.raceit.com/search/
Insurance and permit costs leave us with a couple hundred bucks of expenses so donations will be happily accepted! If you find online donation easier, feel free to choose $10 or $20 register+donate options on RaceIt. If you prefer cash donation, register for the free option there and look for the beggar's tin cup at the start. Or, register online or onsite and run for free.
Any extra proceeds above costs will be donated to the Save Fair Hill fund. The good news is that the parking fee is covered by our park arrangement! So, registered runners will receive a parking pass.
Though we'll have basic aid station fluids, ice chests, and a little food, feel free to bring a snack or some soft drinks to share at the finish if you plan to hang around afterwards in the shade with us to brag about your run or show off your yellowjacket stings.
Questions? Don't bother Phat Phil, who's enjoying retirement running from gators in the Corkscrew Swamp these days. Email Pete at mclaughlin.pete@gmail.com. He might or might not reply.
Map to the start: http://goo.gl/maps/LQuZT
Approximate race course map, but please keep in mind that this may change a bit as we mark the course (click for full page PDF with aid station locations):
See ya at Fair Hill!
